


Waylaid

by Chromophilic_Daydream



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Illustration, M/M, Zine: P5 Sleepover, have some fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 17:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19891684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromophilic_Daydream/pseuds/Chromophilic_Daydream
Summary: After a heated pep talk about their plans to send off the calling card to their newest recruit’s father, the group of mismatched teens was ready to take on the last leg of their Palace venturing. Ren was especially eager to leave the spaceport in Roppongi forever. It had been so exhausting battling there the last few days that he could feel the ache in his muscles anytime he stretched. But this last bit meant there was an end in sight. They still had a week until their deadline, too. Things were going well.That was until the rain started.A clap of thunder and Makoto’s startled screech interrupted him mid-sentence.He clicked his tongue, his gray eyes flickering over to the equally gray-tinted window. He moved towards it to get a closer look. Lightning streaked across the angry sky that poured down sheets of rain.





	Waylaid

**Author's Note:**

> I was accepted as a writer in the [P5 Sleepover Zine](https://twitter.com/P5SleepoverZine) and this is my piece for it! I got to work with the talented [Captain](https://twitter.com/Cptkou1) who did this amazing art at the end of the fic! Go check them out and give them some love!

Ever since he came to the city, it had been one adventure after another. He would have never suspected that this place held such plans for him. If someone had told him a year ago he’d awaken to powers that allowed him to seek justice for those who had been oppressed, much like he had, he would have laughed in their face.

He would have turned around and walked away from them if someone said that he would be surrounded by friends once more.

It was surreal after every single person from his hometown dropped him after his arrest was made public. To think that this place, this city that was meant to contain him and keep him walking the strait and narrow, would be a place he’d treasure so much.

It was a dangerous path he was carving for himself, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Even now as the pattering of rain on the window was a constant reminder that today was supposed to yield more positive results than being trapped in the musty attic of Leblanc.

At least he had the company. 

After a heated pep talk about their plans to send off the calling card to their newest recruit’s father, the group of mismatched teens was ready to take on the last leg of their Palace venturing. Ren was especially eager to leave the spaceport in Roppongi forever. It had been so exhausting battling there the last few days that he could feel the ache in his muscles anytime he stretched. But this last bit meant there was an end in sight. They still had a week until their deadline, too. Things were going well.

That was until the rain started.

A clap of thunder and Makoto’s startled screech interrupted him mid-sentence.

He clicked his tongue, his gray eyes flickering over to the equally gray-tinted window. He moved towards it to get a closer look. Lightning streaked across the angry sky that poured down sheets of rain. 

When did this storm roll in? 

From what he could tell through his fogged-up window, the rain was coming down in waves along the street and was already starting to flood the walkways of Yongen-Jaya.

He found Ann comforting Makoto as another crash of thunder seemingly rocked the entire building causing the lights to flicker.

Looked like they weren’t going anywhere.

“I’m going to go see how bad it is.” He announced, everyone’s attention still divided.

He rushed down the stairs just as Sojiro was headed up.

“Did someone fall or something? I heard a scream.”

“No, we’re fine. The thunder just scared us.” Ren continued down the stairs and followed Sojiro. “I don’t remember the news saying anything about bad weather.” His eyes flickered over to the door but stopped before he could see the rain speckled window. Honey brown eyes stared at him cooly and a warm smile greeted him.

“Seems the rain caught us all unawares,” Akechi remarked before turning his own gaze towards the door before his attention rested back on Ren.

Crap.

“I didn’t know you were here.”

“Sakura-san mentioned you had company upstairs. I wasn’t going to intrude on your…?”

“Study group.” He answered back quickly.

“Right, study group.” There was a mischievous glimmer in those dark brown eyes.

Double crap. 

It wasn’t that he minded Akechi being here, not at all really… they had been seeing each other incredibly often as of the last few months. He’d even go so far as to say they were dating each other, it was just neither of them had defined it in such words. But the problem was that none of his friends knew he had been smitten with the detective that had been speaking out against the Phantom Thieves.

It wasn’t like Akechi knew, though he highly doubted that the knowledge of the group’s identity would change the detective’s mind.

The guilt of his hidden identity was something he was always on edge about around Akechi, but he had done well enough to keep it under wraps for now. There was a time and a place to come clean about his involvement with the group, but now was neither of those things.

He feigned a calm demeanor, bringing his hand up to his face and fidgeting with his bangs to buy him a few moments to recover from the reality of the situation that had rolled over him in a matter of minutes.

Were they all really trapped in Leblanc? All of his friends lived a good distance away from the cafe except Futaba… but it seemed the storm was not going to be letting up as rain pelted down harder on the streets. As for Akechi, he lived near Shibuya, so there was absolutely no way he was going to bike back in this weather.

It was easier to accept what the day had brought for them all and make the most of it.

Ren’s eyes fell on Akechi once again and offered him a gentle smile. “Looks like you’re stuck here with us.”

When his smile was returned with a coy smirk, he felt his face flush and his chest tighten.

“It does, indeed.”

He opened his mouth to say something; anything—when another voice shouted from upstairs.

“Renren!” Ryuji called out.

Ren prickled ever so slightly at the nickname and avoided looking directly at Akechi. He knew exactly what his incredulous expression was going to be and he’d be damned if he’d blushed for the second time in two minutes.

“It’s going to get even worse over the next few hours. I think it’s best we call it a day and go home!” 

He could hear them all moving, the ceiling creaking from their steps and he cast a glance finally back to the detective. He ignored the corners of his mouth that were obviously twitching from contained laughter and went back up the stairs.

“No, that’s not going to happen. The streets are already flooding.” He cut them off from going downstairs and herded them back into the attic to explain the situation in as hushed a voice as he could.

They were all stuck in the cafe with a detective that had been hovering around them for months being suspicious of their every movement. 

“Are you for real?” Ryuji groaned, letting out an obnoxiously loud sigh.

“I suppose out of all of us, Futaba would be the only one able to make it home.” Ann frowned. 

“She’d be washed away with the currents, would she not?” Yusuke asked, much to Futaba’s obvious irritation. 

“Shut up, Inari. Geeze, you obviously all need reinforcement against our intruder.” She pushed her glasses up. “The fuzz is right on our tail. I’m not going to abandon our team in their greatest time of need.”

He wondered just how many cop movies she had been watching recently but hushed them before he allowed himself to question her in a cheeky manner.

“Listen, he is just a guy who is stuck here too. It’d be suspicious if we were all up in here while he is downstairs.”

“But it’s Akechi, Ren. Ya know,” Ryuji waved his hands in the air with exaggerated movements, indicating something. Ren had no idea what that something was, though. He tumbled through a few things he could say in this situation, settling for putting on an air of unyielding leadership with a set jaw and a firm stance. All eyes were on him to appease his team.

“Yeah, I know. We just have to play it cool. This is a mission now.”

Referring to their situation as a mission seemed to rekindle the fire of their determination. Resolve raged through their eager expressions. He sighed in relief when they all decided to band together to act like normal teenagers.

Whatever that meant.

The only issue was Ren didn’t realize just how awkward this was all going to be. The leader of the Phantom Thieves made a charismatic play to the detective and invited him upstairs so he could get this uncomfortable process of acting natural between his secret boyfriend and his group of vigilante friends.

He could feel the tension in the air more than the stuffy humidity that leaked into the attic.

Everyone was oddly quiet. Even Futaba and Ryuji, who Ren had been counting on to go above and beyond to overcompensate, had been remarkably silent. All he could hear was the patter of rain on the windows and the occasional rumble of thunder. Makoto was keeping herself quiet though the loud crashe the storm raging on outside was causing still made her flinch. He doubted very much that it was because she was getting used to it. It seemed Akechi’s presence was making everyone feel a little on edge.

So much for acting natural.

“We should play a game.” Ren suggested suddenly when the silence became too much for him to bear any longer.

“A game?” Yusuke cocked his head, his eyebrows furrowed. “What kind of game do you suggest?”

“Yeah man, you only have this crappy system and two controllers and there are like… nine of us.”

“Nine?” It was Akechi’s voice that chimed in next.

Ren was as perplexed as Ryuji seemed. “Yeah, can’t you count? I thought you were supposed to be smart or somethin— ow, Ann what the hell?”

“No. Ryuji. You idiot. There. Are. Eight. Of. Us.” Ann’s clipped tone made Ren look around the room until his eyes finally rested on the cat that was curled up on the bed. He silently thanked Ann for being so quick to realize what was happening.

“Surely you weren’t counting the cat as a contestant in any sort of challenge, Sakamoto-kun.” The detective mused with an air of arrogance that made Ren’s face heat up remarkably fast.

“Who are you calling a cat?” Morgana hissed but immediately backed down when he caught Ren’s narrowed gaze.

“A-anyhow a game? What kind of game lead- uh… Ren?” Futaba stuttered.

This was going  _ swimmingly _ . A small part of him wished that he could just go outside and let the flooding walkways drown him. He was sure if he laid there long enough it would do the trick.

He stood up, a desperate act of busying himself to get away from the uncomfortable situation going on behind him. He needed to take a deep breath and pray to whatever gods were out there that this storm would go away as quickly as it came.

In the meantime, he rummaged around the corner of his borrowed attic space for anything to catch his eye. All he managed to find was several large sheets of crinkled paper and an abandoned spider web that had dust clinging to its silvery strands.

His mind was turning as he regarded the paper, smoothing it out with his palms against the wooden floor. He was drawing a blank, though.

Drawing a blank.

Drawing.

“How about we draw pictures on teams of two and we try to guess what the other person is dra-”

“Boys versus girls? I get Yusuke.” Ryuji interrupted, holding up Yusuke’s arm in a desperate manner as if he just won some kind of metal and was hoisting it into the air.

“What?! That’s no fair! Fine! I get Futaba.”

“Me, Ann? Sweet, I’ll leave you guys in awe of my stick figure skills.”

“Wa-wait.” 

“I’m fine with this, you Haru?” Makoto asked. The newest member of their group nodded politely.

“I won’t let us lose.”

Ren watched them all move close to their new partners and his eyes fell once more on Akechi. There was a gleam in his eye that made Ren’s ears hot and his stomach churn. He knew that mischievous air anywhere, but he tried to remember that they were not alone. Ren cleared his throat and went back to sitting but now beside the detective.

“Guess we’re partners?”

“An astute observation, I hope your cunning wit comes in handy.” 

It was a raw, challenging tone that snapped at him with every dainty word. If they weren’t stuck on the same team, Ren would have held himself personally responsible for Akechi Goro’s utter failure in every single round they had against each other. He wondered if the smug detective knew how very lucky he was that they were paired together.

He settled for nudging Akechi’s ankle with the side of his foot.

As the game started, it seemed everyone was jumping at the chance to do something. Being stuck in his room was not something he thought of as a ‘fun activity’ though his friends did sometimes visit him to spend time with him. The sudden flash of realization struck him like a bolt of lightning streaking across the skies outside as the game progressed. The laughter of his friends rolled in like thunder as Ann tried desperately to guess why Futaba drew clouds with legs. 

The sensation sank into him like he had just stood out in the rain for hours and had only just now realized it…

How lonely had he been before he moved here? He had been abandoned by everyone he dared call a friend back home. He was at his absolute lowest when he ventured up into the attic for the first time. And now, even on the dreariest of days—

He was surrounded by friends.

“Amamiya?” 

The light air of concern cut through to him and his eyes fell on Akechi. He pushed his glasses up as the rest of them began to trash talk each other about how they were going to best the others.

He smiled fondly and sat beside the detective.

“Everything alright?”

He nodded. “Perfect, thanks.” His warm smile seemed to make the other boy feel at ease because Ren saw his shoulders relax.

“Let’s destroy these losers.” 

“How bold of you,”

Ren’s fingers twitched with the urge to hold the other’s hand and settled for brushing the back of his hand against Akechi’s. He didn’t seem phased, only vaguely ever so slightly.

They were using a random phrase generator from Futaba’s phone and using the smallest amount of space possible to get more rounds from each sheet. Ann’s phone was used as a timer and Makoto was keeping score. And as the rounds kept going, everyone was having good fun teasing Ryuji and Yusuke’s team which was falling spectacularly behind.

Ryuji’s plan quickly backfired on him in the most poetic of ways. Yusuke was so meticulous about drawing the prompt he was given, he hardly scratched the surface of any of the phrases.

“Dude, come on,” Ryuji groaned and hung his head in defeat. “How was I supposed to guess a pack of alpaca from a bunch of rectangles?”

“You think I’d just scribble something out like your shameful attempts?” Yusuke retorted as they lost yet another round. Ren was grinning to himself, trying not to let the smugness show too much, but it was hilarious to watch.

“That’s not the  _ game _ , Yusuke.”

“I suppose I should just draw little  _ V _ marks over a mountain range to indicate a flock of seagulls, then? I’m not a barbarian.”

“Yusuke, that was the  _ ocean _ !”

“You jest! Have you ever  _ seen _ the ocean?”

From the head of the bed, Ren heard Morgana snicker and Ryuji’s attention zero in very pointedly at the cat.

“Stop laughing!” 

“Not my fault you draw like a monkey, Ryuji~” Ren immediately put his hand on Morgana’s head, pushing it down to stop him from talking. Ryuji opened his mouth to speak up but Ren interrupted before this got worse. Like this day couldn’t get any weirder.

“It’s our turn, I think.” His voice was strained as he stood up, mentally apologizing to Morgana as the cat made a growling noise when Ren’s hand left him.

Ryuji’s boiling temper simmered behind a tight-lipped grimace. 

“Right… right, fine go.” Ryuji motioned to Ren and Akechi. All at once the color drained from his friend’s face upon looking at the both of them. It was almost as if he forgot Akechi was even there in the heat of the moment. 

Ren decided at that moment to just play it cool, like his friends always fought with his cat-like that, yeah, it was completely a normal event that took place every time they hung out. It was best to just hope that the detective hadn’t found it suspicious.

One glance in his direction told him absolutely nothing. Akechi was still sitting there, motionless except for his gaze which kept moving around; observing.

Ren cursed the rain in the sky but pressed on without drawing attention to what just happened. It felt tense in the attic again but maybe it was just his own nerves getting the best of him. He carried on like nothing happened—like his best friend had absolutely not argued with a cat.

His eyes flickered over the phrase on Futaba’s phone and he rolled up his sleeves. His marker hovered over the already sprawled on paper. He smiled fondly, thinking about how he was going to preserve the sheet after the game was over. 

“Ready? Go!”

He began drawing  _ V _ ’s on the paper, several of them. Ren’s poor attempts of a cityscape looked more like soggy boxes than buildings but—

“A murder of crows?”

He grinned and looked back at Akechi. “You got it.”

“Seriously?!” Ryuji and Yusuke both protested. Everyone started laughing at the situation and any tension that had been buzzing around them vanished. He looked around and felt some warmth spread through him. He never thought that, after all, he had been through, this kind of situation would ever present itself to him. 

Everyone close to him getting along like this? Laughing and having fun instead of going out and trying to reform the world and keep their identities hidden?

This felt like a normal life through even extraordinary circumstances.

And he knew that this feeling would die out with the rain. After the storm passed the thieves would go back to trying to correct the corrupt. After the storm passed he and Akechi would go back to trying to figure out what they were to each other.

After the storm passed, this normal feeling—this mundane situation he didn’t know he craved so badly would be ripped away from him.

But for now, it was okay.

He looked back at Akechi once more, the detective returned Ren’s smile with an air of cockiness that knocked the air right out of Ren’s lungs.

It made him think that maybe—just maybe…

There’d be a way to chase this kind of moment again.

“That’s not fair! It’s like they’re a hive mind!” Ryuji was explaining to Futaba, who hadn’t stop laughing yet. She was almost beet red in the face and snorting through her heaving laughs.

“They share a brain cell Ryuji, you will never win. None of us will.” She wiped under her glasses and gave a rickety sigh.

Ren felt like he should have been offended but brushed off the comment. He’d have to figure out later what she was talking about.

“Perhaps we should play a different game. Even though it is getting late. It’s kinda fun to be a bit rebellious.” Haru said. Everyone agreed with her and settled down once more. They took turns asking each other questions instead. Futaba started by asking Yusuke if he’d ever thought about making doujinshi for a living, to which he inquired what she meant. Her explanation was more pointed towards what Ren assumed was the kind of thing she liked to indulge in. The comments made Yusuke quirk an eyebrow and Haru leaned forward; interested to learn more. They all had a small round of laughter again before it was Yusuke’s turn to ask someone something. His eyes fell on Ren but moved onto Haru… to which he asked if she would possibly model for him at some point. Her face lit up like a candle and she shyly turned down his advances. 

Ren turned his attention away from the group and towards the detective that sat beside him. He could see  _ it  _ under the attentive look that lingered in Akechi’s warm eyes. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips. He actually… seemed like he was having a good time. In the matter of a moment, their eyes locked. Akechi’s eyebrows shot up from realization that he was being watched and he sat up straighter just as Ren tuned into the conversation. He pushed his glasses up, trying to hide his face from the flush that was staining his cheeks. 

It was Makoto’s turn and he hardly heard her question over the pulsing blood rushing through his ears but it was directed at Akechi.

“After high school?” He heard the detective ask then laugh ever so softly. “I… I guess I don’t really know that. Apply for as many schools as I can, make something of myself…”

“Haven’t you already? You’re, like… on TV all the time.” Ryuji butted in.

He saw a feeble smile grace Akechi’s lips and had a twisted feeling in his gut that there was something incredibly wrong.

“I am, aren’t I? But the spotlight dies for everyone. I’d like to know I’ve made strides towards making a difference. Sorry, that probably wasn’t as interesting as you were hoping, Niijima-san.”

The turbulent vibe he had gotten from that weak smile waned when Akechi sat up a bit straighter and pointed to himself.

“It’s my turn, yes? Alright, Amamiya.” 

Ren’s hands were a bit sweaty as the attention fell on him. He saw the detective’s ever-confident smile return and feared the absolute worst.

“Are you all the Ph—”

His heart dropped in his stomach as the question began—but a giant thunderclap shook his bedroom and electricity went out in time to Makoto’s scream, with the rest of their screams to follow her’s.

It was completely dark in his room now. After some rummaging around, he managed to find a few candles and a lighter.

He passed the odd-sized candles to everyone and tried to use the feeble light to see in the attic. Ren was actually grateful the electricity went out at such an ideal moment. They all knew exactly what Akechi was going to ask them and they were quite literally saved by the storm they were also damned by.

“Ugh, it’s just sittin’ on us and dumpin’ water.” Futaba scowled at her phone as she flicked through the weather channel. “I think we’re stuck here tonight. Sorry, Ren.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’m sure we can fit everyone in here.”

Sure enough, after a bit of situating, the group found some little area to claim for themselves. Ren offered to give up his bed to Ann and Makoto but they insisted he sleep in his own space. With Ryuji and Yusuke sleeping on the blanket Ren usually used and Makoto and Ann huddled up on the futon, Futaba rummaged around the junk that Ren hadn’t touched since he first cleaned his room and found a small air mattress and a hand crank motor.

“This thing is probably older than all us combined.” She said and handed it over to Ren and Akechi. They exchanged glances with each other and began to help the mattress fill.

A few labored minutes later, Futaba and Haru climbed on the miraculously leak-free bed. He could tell everyone was winding down from the day.

Akechi stood in the room, trying to find where he could possibly sleep and obviously begrudging the fact that he had to stay. But Ren’s heart was wildly hammering in his chest once again. Akechi had never spent the night before.

“I don’t bite you know,” he spoke up and moved over a bit so the detective could slip in. Akechi offered a smile and moved to where he was positioned between Ren and the wall.

“But I might.” He joked and Ren returned his smile. He could already hear soft snoring from the floor and knew Ryuji and Yusuke were both out instantly. He glanced and squinted around the room in the dying candlelight before he blew the one out beside Morgana.

“Goodnight everyone,”

“Goodnight leader, ah— Ren.”

He fought the urge to react. Instead, he rolled over, keeping his face as blank as possible because even in the darkness— he could feel Akechi Goro studying him like a complex code he was intent on cracking.

“What?”

“Hm.. nothing.” That was a lie.

He felt Akechi shift a bit closer to him. His stomach churned. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and brush his hair away in a vain attempt to be able to see him in the darkness. But he resisted. 

“There’s something you want to say, say it.” He whispered.

Akechi chuckled. “You think you know me so well.”

“I know you well enough.”

“Hm…” there was a beat of silence before a hot whisper flooded his ear. “Does your group always argue with your cat, leader?”

He shoved Akechi playfully off of him and covered his ear. The darkness covered his pout and he was now grateful for it. “Morgana started it.”

“Oh, you speak cat now?”

“Everyone here does, that’s how you get to be part of the club.”

“Your study club?”

“Nya-trually.” He answered.

He heard Akechi muffle his laughter with his hand. “Fine, keep your secrets then, Renren.”

“H-hey, stop teasing me. Everyone is sleeping and you should go to sleep too.”

“So I will stop questioning you?”

“Right, it’s too late for you to have so many questions about me.”

“I never got to ask mine though. Hardly seems fair don’t you think…?”

“Hmm..” He moved a bit closer to Akechi and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Next time, I promise.”

He felt the warm pressure of an arm on his own. “Maybe so, if this happens again… I doubt it but regardless, I had fun today. Thank you for letting me stay…”

He smiled to himself and whispered, “anytime,” before listening to Akechi’s breathing even out before finally feeling like he could drift off to sleep. Soon it was obvious that everyone around him was asleep soundly as the rain quietly pelted itself on the roof in gentle sheets. He squinted over in the darkness and moved closer to Akechi’s warm body, pulling himself dangerously close. It was fine if they were like this, no one would notice in the morning. He watched the detective’s figure rest peacefully and wondered just what was going through his head earlier during the game… or even when they were all just talking… What was it going to take to break down those walls he kept putting up? Why was he so hesitant to let them down?

Ren didn’t know, but he did know that surrounded by those close to him was something he didn’t realize he was missing in his life. There was a peace here, in this strange city with these people he barely knew. There was a feeling he wanted to grasp and never let go of… if this opportunity would show up again.

There was always more time—another day, another storm, another conversation. Maybe soon he’d be able to knock down the fortress of Akechi’s walls that guarded him so well… much like this group of people who barged into his life managed to do for him. 

Even still, this rare moment of tranquility in his life would be one he would always treasure—and one he quietly prayed would come to him again.

He would never lose sight of this moment of contentedness, laying in the darkness with everyone— hoping that when the rain stopped at long last, this feeling would not.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter @chromiekins.


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